Pruning to Bear More Fruit

UV 4147/10000. Pruning to Bear More Fruit Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that continues to bear fruit, He ( repeatedly) prunes, so that it will bear more fruit ( even richer and more fruit). John 15 v 2 Jesus is the True Vine and each of us is like a branch. The Father in heaven is the vinedresser and He prunes the branches so that we bear more and richer fruit. Our purpose, then, in being grafted to the True Vine, Jesus is to bear more and better fruit. Jesus is the good root to which we are affixed. We cannot bear fruit except we remain in Him and His word. His word is the water that cleanses, feeds, softens, nourishes us. The Lord God prunes us through life’s tough experiences, trials and tribulations. We develop patience by enduring much suffering. Pruning can be personally painful for the pruned branches. A part of us is cut off so that fresh and renewed growth in Christ is possible. We should not resent such pruning but welcome it as the way to make us more useful, more blessed, more fruitful. The more we willingly yield to God’s will by studying the word and obeying it, the less the need for the Lord to prune us. The parts that are less fruitful or barren are more likely to be pruned. There is also a warning that we must heed that the Lord will cut off the branches which do not yield any fruit. It implies the Lord is examining us every day like a good gardener to see if we are yielding good fruit. The fruit the Lord is giving priority to is the nine fruit of the spirit. The Holy Spirit, God in us, is like the sap that arises along with the water, the word in our stems to produce joy and hope in abundance. The nine fruit are the qualities of the character of Jesus. The branches cannot be very different from the Vine. We need to reflect the DNA or divine nature of Jesus in our lives and only then can we be described as being spiritually fruitful. We need to ask the Holy Spirit to examine us every day and suggest. In that sense, unlike the vine branches, we play an active and willing part in our own growth and in bearing fruit. Pruning requires some tools and implements like scissors. Our mental equipment, knowledge, concepts are helpful tools to prune us such that we bear the right kind of fruit. Most of the nine fruit are expressed or manifested in our verbal and non verbal communication. Improving and enhancing our communication is a practical way to improve our fruit bearing. A plant cannot prune itself and therefore, we need to ask the Lord to prune us every day in the areas where we need to change, limit ourselves, grow, expand, develop.